Creation and development

Stephen Hillenburg first made Bob the Sponge in 1989, for a comic book, Bob the Sponge co-stared with Rocky the Shrimp in the comic book. Bob the Sponge actually resembled a real sponge, but he wore sunglasses and had a mouth to speak with. Bob the Sponge had evolved into SpongeBoy around 1994, and later evolved into SpongeBob SquarePants. Bob the Sponge and SpongeBoy are both proto-types of SpongeBob, though SpongeBoy resembles SpongeBob more than what Bob the Sponge does.

Trivia

SpongeBob's French name Bob l'éponge can be translated to Bob the Sponge.